Is the Robot Revolution Here

Is the Robot Revolution Here?

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Jill Wiltfong:
Hi, I’m Jill Wiltfong, Chief Marketing Officer for Korn Ferry, and this is Briefings, our deep dive into topics corporate leaders need to care about.

When ChatGPT seemingly came out of nowhere two years ago and took the world by storm, many business leaders were stunned by the pace of adoption. Now comes another enormous technological advancement. We’re talking about robots. Yes — robots. And few businesses want to be caught flat-footed again.

But how close are we really to a so-called ChatGPT moment when robots, too, dominate the business world and reshape career options? There’s no clear answer. But consider this: robotic startups raised $12 billion in venture capital last year alone. And if you’ve seen the videos — robots that walk, jump, or run assembly lines — it feels part science fiction, part reality.

Either way, we’re ready to have the conversation before it’s too late as we ask: Is the robot revolution here?

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I’m joined now by Ed Colgate, professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern University. He’s director of the Engineering Research Center for Human Augmentation via Dexterity — or HAND — and the inventor of a broad class of collaborative robots known as cobots. Ed, it’s great to have you.

Ed Colgate:
Great to be here, Jill.

Jill Wiltfong:
There’s still work to be done in improving robot functionality and lowering costs. But you’ve said we’re in a “golden age” of robotics. What makes you say that?

Ed Colgate:
What’s different today is AI. Because of AI, robots now have the ability to perceive — to look out into the world, see, understand, and act on what they see. That simply wasn’t possible over the past several decades.

Jill Wiltfong:
The pace of technology is unbelievable. Certain robots are further along in adoption than others. Can you break down the different classes of robots and where they stand?

Ed Colgate:
The longest-standing type is the industrial robot — the big arms you see welding car bodies or painting vehicles.

A more recent class is automated mobile robots. You’ll find these in warehouses, moving parts or delivering items from one place to another.

Then there are collaborative robots, or cobots. Over the past 20-plus years, this category has become very important. Cobots are robot arms like industrial robots, but scaled down and designed with safety features that allow them to work side by side with people.

And of course, we see quadrupeds running around — and humanoids.

Jill Wiltfong:
The idea of a humanoid robot excites many people — whether it’s help at the office or around the house. From a technological perspective, what’s the biggest roadblock holding engineers back from creating the fully functional humanoid bots we see in movies?

Ed Colgate:
The number one challenge is the hand. You can see it on my shirt — HAND.

Hands are incredibly hard to engineer. An arm has about six joints and plenty of space for muscles and sensors. A hand has closer to 25 joints in a much smaller space. You need far more sensors and touch sensitivity, all packed tightly together. Making that work is a very hard problem.

Jill Wiltfong:
The trillion-dollar question many leaders are asking: How long until we reach that level of dexterity?

Ed Colgate:
My best estimate is one to two decades. We likely have another decade of foundational research and development. We’ll see lots of startups and fresh ideas. Then things will begin to settle out, and we’ll start to see robots we can truly work with in meaningful ways.

Jill Wiltfong:
While we wait for that perfect robot, you’ve advised companies to consider small pilot programs and stay close to developments. You’ve shared an example of a car company that did this effectively.

Ed Colgate:
Yes. This company chose a very specific task — one that didn’t require extreme dexterity but had to be performed reliably around the clock for months.

Through that pilot, they learned about maintenance, integration into plant systems, and ROI. It gave them real operational insight.

If you have the capacity, now is the time to run pilots. If you want to be a leader — and not get caught flat-footed — this is when you begin building those learnings.

Jill Wiltfong:
Ed, thank you for sharing your expertise. It’s an exciting space.

Ed Colgate:
Thank you.

We’ve explored the future of robots from a technical perspective. When we return, we’ll discuss what this means for leaders — and how to prepare.

Break

Jill Wiltfong:
And we’re back. Joining us now is Korn Ferry’s Head of AI Strategy and Transformation, Bryan Ackermann, to help us understand how companies can avoid being blindsided by robotics the way many were by ChatGPT. Bryan, great to have you.

Bryan Ackermann:
Great to be here.

Jill Wiltfong:
Robots today aren’t quite at Star Trek levels yet. But with the speed of technological change, could robotics have its own ChatGPT moment?

Bryan Ackermann:
Robotics aren’t new. But generative AI and agentic AI are making these physical manifestations of AI much more flexible and adaptable.

I think robotics is already beginning to have its ChatGPT moment. We’re seeing robotic environments pop up everywhere — similar to the rapid shift we saw with generative AI.

Jill Wiltfong:
When ChatGPT launched, many companies were caught off guard. What’s your advice to leaders who don’t want to repeat that “deer in the headlights” moment with robotics?

Bryan Ackermann:
Generative and agentic AI initially focused on knowledge workers — white-collar, non-industrial use cases. But that’s changing rapidly.

Leaders need to recognize that process transformation is moving off the phone and keyboard and onto the shop floor, into kitchens, and into physical environments. The same opportunity for efficiency — and restructuring how work happens — is coming into the physical world.

Jill Wiltfong:
There’s been fear about AI-driven job displacement. But a Korn Ferry study found 82% of leaders believe AI will replace less than 20% of the workforce in the next few years.

Will humanoid robots change that? Or are we more likely to see robots aiding humans rather than replacing them?

Bryan Ackermann:
We’re still a ways away from robots operating independently at scale. They struggle with precision tasks. You’ll see videos of a humanoid robot taking two minutes to fold a shirt.

Yes, we must respect how quickly this technology is advancing. But there’s still a big gap between what humanoids can do autonomously, what they can do with remote control, and what’s required for daily life.

To create the kind of impact generative AI has had, robots need to operate effectively in daily life — and we’re not there yet.

Jill Wiltfong:
Give us a gut check. Long term, what excites you most — and what worries you?

Bryan Ackermann:
What excites me is the idea of robots as super-powered assistants. Physical AI could bring enormous value into everyday life — perhaps even more visibly than generative AI.

What worries me is how far we push the humanoid metaphor. Are we trying to create copies of humans that we shouldn’t? Are we risking what makes us uniquely human?

Jill Wiltfong:
Bryan, thank you for sharing your perspective on this rapidly evolving space.

Bryan Ackermann:
Thank you.

Jill Wiltfong

The executive producer of Briefings is Jonathan Dahl. Today’s episode was produced by Rupak Bhattacharyya and Zachary Dore, and it was edited by Jaren Henry McRae.

It contains reporting by Russell Pearlman, Ariane Cohen, Peter Lauria, and Meghan Walsh. Our video segment contains original artwork by Fraser Milton, Haley Kennel, Jonathan Pink, and Sasha Kotzek. Our web operations are managed by Ed McLaurin.

Don’t forget to read our magazine—available at newsstands and at kornferry.com/briefings.

That’s it for Korn Ferry Briefings. I’m Jill Wiltfong. See you next time.